When Greer MacAlister's despised husband dies, she and her young daughter Fen find themselves in a remote whisky smuggling community in the heart of the Highlands. Here, illicit whisky making is a means of survival in a Scotland under occupation by the British, decades after the disastrous Battle of Culloden. The villagers are suspicious of the widow, but when Greer tricks excise officers away from their illegal stills with a courageous and daring act, they warm to her.
But the excise men are out for revenge, smuggling is a dangerous business, and whisky - a drink that has long ignited passions, songs, stories and danger - is at the rebellious heart of it all. Greer and Fen have no choice but to fight for the life they want.